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How to Hard Boil Duck Eggs

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned how prolifically our Welsh Harlequin ducks have been laying all winter. They continue to just blow me away with their amazing work ethic – these girls almost never take a day off!

Since we have such a bounty available, we’ve let ourselves go on a serious duck egg kick lately, which is a really happy thing in this mama’s book. Did you know that duck eggs have nearly 6 times the Vitamin B12 that you’ll find in a chicken egg? They also boast twice the Omega 3’s, more than twice the folate, and about twice as much of Vitamins A, E, and B6. A nutritional treasure trove, these beautiful eggs are!While we enjoy using duck eggs in all the same ways we use chicken eggs, I think the higher ratio of rich yolk in the duck eggs makes for especially decadent hard-boiled eggs. And they take egg salad to a whole new level.

Until we had ducks, I’d never made hard-boiled duck eggs. So it took me a little while, and some trial and error, to master the art of perfectly cooking them. We aren’t cool with gray-rimmed yolks and hard-to-peel shells in this house, so it was worth some scientific experimentation to get a fail-proof method ironed out. Here’s the technique I settled on, and it’s been delivering consistently perfect results every time. I also think it’s simple, and pretty easy to remember, which is a plus (especially for those of us with pregnancy brain!)

Put your duck eggs in a pan, and fill with enough cold water to cover the eggs.Over medium-high heat, bring to a full rolling boil. Boil for one minute.

Turn off heat. Put a well-fitting cover on the pan, and allow to sit undisturbed for 19 minutes. Yes. 19.

Ok – a quick aside here. You know me. I love precision. I feel I should specify that I consider my duck eggs to be a nice “normal” duck-eggy size. They average 2.7 ounces, for those of you who like to know these things. If your eggs are on the smaller, say “jumbo chicken ” side (about 2.2 ounces), go with 17 minutes. If, on the other hand, we’re talking turkey egg territory (3+ ounces), then 21 minutes will yield the results you want.

When the time’s up, drain the hot water off, cover the eggs with cold water again, and add enough ice cubes to make a nice ice-water bath.Let sit for 20 minutes.

Now when you peel these, here’s the technique. Hold them with the small, pointy end up. Give the fat end a good firm tap down on the counter. Roll the egg on the counter, just firmly enough to crack the shell around. No need to overdo it. Remove the peel, starting at the fat end. This is where the air sack was, and it’s the easiest place to start. Peel just like you would a clementine – I generally find that the whole shell comes off in one long strip. It reminds me of the old-fashioned kids game, where you’d try to peel an orange all in one piece, then throw it over your shoulder and it was supposed to form the first letter of the name of the person you were going to marry. Now I’d be totally remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to my good friend Amanda, over at Confessions of a Type B Mama. I’ve been using this “thwack the fat end” technique forever, but never thought about why it was effective until she posted her delightful how-to on hard-boiling chicken eggs a couple of months ago. Who knew?

I’d also love to add a quick word about salt. Many folks salt the water when they hard-boil eggs, and there is a rationale to this, since salt-water boils at a slightly higher temperature than unsalted water. However, since various salts can create significantly different percentages of salt solution, this really does not lend itself to consistent results. I find that working with unsalted water, and a precise amount of time, allows for more consistent replication from one household to another.

Jemma, I’m so glad they came out well for you! Yes, I’m a bit of a nut with my precise times…I somehow manage to do that with all my recipes! But it works well for me every time! Thanks so much for the kind words!

Fabulous!! We have our own ducks ( just 5 running around the garden) & the other half was always complaining he couldn’t get them right!! Especially couldn’t peel them!
Ha!! Wait till he these beauties!!
Cooked tp perfection & so easily peeled!
Love the exact timings – Thank you xx

I followed the directions almost exactly–as the ice melted and they were room temperature by the time I sat down to peel. Mine are still not easy to peel. The shell and the layer connected to the white are so strong! Did you do something in addition? I have had 12 ducks for almost 3 years and done everything-egg but I can’t get the hard-boiled peeling right so it’s a disappointment as that’s my favorite type….

Sharon, that’s a great question! Being a mere 387′ above sea level, I have yet to try this at high altitude. After doing a little sleuthing around at some high-altitude rules of thumb, this is where I’d start my experimenting if it were me: I’d try leaving the water at a rolling boil instead of turning it off after 1 minute, and would let the eggs boil for an extra 4 minutes or so. So rolling boil for 24 minutes is where I’d start, and then tweak depending on the outcome. Not sure if that helps much, but I wish you the best of luck, and hope you’ll let us know if you find the perfect high-altitude method!

Hi Julie! You know, I’ve done it both ways and they turn out great. When using cold, refrigerated eggs, they do take longer to come up to boil. However, since the precise timing happens only after the whole pot has come to a boil, I’ve found the end result to be exactly the same as with room-temperature eggs. Hope this helps!!

You cannot believe how much I appreciate your attention-to-detail precision! I have a dozen duck eggs in various sizes, from average to jumbo, and had no clue how much longer to cook them. I use a slightly modified technique that works well for me with those finicky-to-peel chicken eggs, I steam them, cold from the fridge (large eggs 15 minutes). I’m impatient, and don’t like waiting for the amount of water needed to cover eggs to come to a boil. Also keeps the house cooler in summer. I use my pasta pot that has the drainer/steamer basket, and it works like a dream. Chill them the same as you. Perfecto! Thank you SO much!

Laurie, what a fabulous tip! I’ll have to try that! And haha – I’m so glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t mind ridiculously precise times, even if they’re not nice round numbers! Thanks so much for the kind comments!!

Aren’t they the BEST? We are huge fans of them in pretty much everything. And Haha – yep, I find what works and can’t pretend it’s a nice round number! ; ) Just checked out your lovely blog by the way! Delightful! Thanks so much for the kinds comments, and have a great day!